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| Date: From: Subject: | 2/11/2005 4:26:37 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Hawaii--Calls Needed to Stop Daytime Curfew Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== February 11, 2005 Hawaii--Calls Needed to Stop Daytime Curfew Bill Dear HSLDA members and friends: A bill has been introduced in both the House and the Senate which would prohibit a minor of compulsory attendance age from being in any public place from the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This legislation undermines the freedom and liberty we enjoy in the United States. No other state in the nation has enacted a state-wide curfew! If this law passes Hawaii will be the first state to enact such a draconian statute. While this bill provides for certain exclusions, including homeschooling, there is no way for police or truancy officers to know who is exempt from the curfew. All school age children who are out in public between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. could be stopped and questioned by the police. Your children could be taken to the local police station to verify who they are and that they have a valid excuse to be in a public place. You would have less freedom to send your 17 year-old daughter to pick up some groceries or let your 16 year-old son go to music lessons across town. The Senate version of the bill is scheduled to be heard in the Education Committee on Monday, February 14th at 1:15 p.m. No hearing has been scheduled yet for the House version of the bill. Please call now to oppose House Bill 226 and Senate Bill 1014 and help stop this legislation which limits your freedom in Hawaii! ACTION REQUESTED 1) Please call all the Senate Education Committee members listed below immediately and give them this message: "Please oppose Senate Bill 1014. Enacting a daytime curfew assumes that a child is guilty until proven innocent and those with a legal excuse to be in public between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. are not protected from being questioned, detained, or held in custody until their innocence is proven. Studies show that daytime curfews do not prevent juvenile crime." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. Senate Education Committee: Chairman Senator Norman Sakamoto Phone 808-586-8585 e-mail sensakamoto@Capitol.hawaii.gov Vice-Chair Senator Gary L. Hooser Phone 808-586-6030 From Kauai, toll free 274-3141 + 66030 E-mail senhooser@Capitol.hawaii.gov Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland Phone 808-586-6130 e-mail senchunoakland@Capitol.hawaii.gov Senator Clarence K. Nishihara Phone 808-586-6970 e-mail sennishihara@Capitol.hawaii.gov Senator Shan S. Tsutsui Phone 808-586-7344 From Maui, toll free 984-2400 + 67344 e-mail sentsutsui@Capitol.hawaii.gov Senator Bob Hogue Phone 808-587-7215 E-mail senhogue@Capitol.hawaii.gov 2) Please call the House Education Committee members listed below and give them this message: "Please oppose House Bill 226. Enacting a daytime curfew assumes that a child is guilty until proven innocent and those with a legal excuse to be in public between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. are not protected from being questioned, detained, or held in custody until their innocence is proven. Studies show that daytime curfews do not prevent juvenile crime." You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. House Education Committee: Committee Chairman Representative Roy M. Takumi Phone 808-586-6170 E-mail reptakumi@Capitol.hawaii.gov Vice Chairman Representative Lyla Berg, PH.D. Phone 808-586-6510 E-mail repberg@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Dennis A. Arakaki Phone 808-586-6050 E-mail reparakaki@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Rida T.R. Cabanilla Phone 808-586-6080 E-mail repcabanilla@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Jerry L. Chang Phone 808-586-6120 From the Big Island, toll free 974-4000 + 66120 e-mail repchang@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Josh Green, M.D. Phone 808-586-9605 From the Big Island, toll free 974-4000 + 69605 E-mail repgreen@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Helene H. Hale Phone 808-586-6530 From the Big Island, toll free 974-4000 + 66530 E-mail rephale@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Michael Puamamo Kahikina Phone 808-586-8465; fax 808-586-8469 E-mail repkahikina@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Maile S. L. Shimabukuro Phone 808-586-8460 E-mail repshimabukuro@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Tommy Waters Phone 808-586-9450 E-mail repwaters@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Corinne W.L. Ching Phone 808-586-9415 E-mail repching@Capitol.hawaii.gov Representative Lynn Finnegan Honolulu, HI 96813 Phone 808-586-9470 E-mail repfinnegan@Capitol.hawaii.gov BACKGROUND - Daytime curfews violate a minor's fundamental constitutional right to freedom of movement as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment on the public streets, highways and areas of the city without being subjected to prior governmental restraint. - Daytime curfews violate the fundamental legal principle of the presumption of innocence. This presumption is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution. - Daytime curfews result in violations of the minors' Fourth Amendment rights to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. A policeman should not stop and question anyone unless there are actual facts that make it reasonable to suspect that a crime has occurred. If a policeman stops and questions a person without such facts, it is a violation of the citizen's rights under the Fourth Amendment. - Daytime curfews interfere with the parents' fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children, especially for parents with children in small private schools who often work outside the classroom. - Daytime curfews are, in essence, beefed-up truancy ordinances. All states have already addressed the area of truancy in a comprehensive way. There is no need for new laws addressing the issue of truancy. The present laws addressing minors simply need to be enforced. - Daytime curfews will result in selective enforcement. Since officers will not be stopping every juvenile during school hours to check their ID, they will be selective. This opens up the extremely dangerous potential for unequal treatment of minors based upon race, appearance, dress, etc. This type of ordinance will simply divert attention from real crime prevention programs and interfere with effective police work. - There is no evidence that daytime curfews significantly reduce juvenile crime during curfew hours. Statistics demonstrate that there is very little juvenile crime during these hours even when there is no daytime curfew. Additionally, the serious juvenile law-breaker will not be deterred by the daytime curfew. However, hundreds, if not thousands of innocent minors will suffer the inconvenience of unwarranted stops, detentions and harassment, not to mention the added cost for taxpayers for the enforcement of the curfew. - Daytime curfews dangerously train young citizens to accept, as normal, constraints that are inconsistent with the freedom they should be educated to enjoy and use responsibly in their adult years. - Daytime curfews send a message to self-disciplined and responsible young people that the community makes no distinction between them and irresponsible adults who abuse freedom in ways detrimental to the community. - Daytime curfews will likely result in registration of privately educated students with police departments with the attendant issuance of ID cards and badges. For more information on daytime curfews, please see our analysis of this issue at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2102 . Sincerely, Thomas Schmidt HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> "I saved my entire membership fee with one discount" "When I called Liberty to find out what kind of discount we could get, they told us we would 10% off our car insurance and 5% off our homeowner's insurance. What we will save is more than double what it costs to join HSLDA. With one child getting his driver's license this year, the savings will be a real blessing!" More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1108 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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